Nonprofit's work with juveniles questioned

County is 'not satisfied' with probation services

OVERVIEW

Background: After a state law mandated that juvenile offenders be confined in local rather than state facilities, the county Probation Department contracted with New Alternatives to provide rehabilitation services for its detainees and probationers.

What's changing: The county has cited several problems with New Alternatives in documents and interviews. New Alternatives counters that improvements have been made and that some services surpass requirements.

The future: The county is considering contracting with other providers when the fiscal year begins July 1.

A company getting paid more than $650,000 to rehabilitate the county's young criminals is failing the needs of those youths and could lose its contract, county officials said.

New Alternatives, a nonprofit family services agency based in Hillcrest, has canceled or cut short behavior-reform classes at the juvenile-detention facilities in Otay Mesa and Kearny Mesa, has not staffed enough counselors and has failed to adequately follow up with youths on probation, according to officials.

The agency was awarded a $658,213 contract by the county Probation Department last year to conduct the classes for nearly 50 high-risk offenders who are no longer eligible for state juvenile prisons and to assist them once they are released from custody.

Ann Sasaki-Madigan, the department's deputy chief for institutional services, said she was “not satisfied” with New Alternatives' performance.

The department decided against automatically extending the contract with the agency and is reviewing proposals from other social service providers, and New Alternatives, for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

“We want to use the dollars we have as wisely as we can to provide the best services possible,” Sasaki-Madigan said.

Gerald Fare, director of special projects for New Alternatives, defended his organization.

Fare said his company has fully staffed its classrooms, scheduled more time with probationers and in some cases is doing more than what is called for in the contract.

Although the contract calls for a minimum of 20 classes a week, for example, he said that New Alternatives offers 33 classes a week.

“We have made some tremendous improvements, and we are optimistic that we can iron out any remaining difficulties,” Fare said.

The contract called for New Alternatives to provide rehabilitation services mandated under a 2007 law requiring counties to incarcerate all but the most violent juvenile criminals instead of sending them to state juvenile prisons, as they had long done.

But problems soon arose.

There weren't always enough counselors to staff the daily classes for the 48 teens sentenced to the department's Youthful Offender Unit, according to probation officials and internal memos obtained under the California Public Records Act.

A probation officer monitoring one of the classes said the session was cut short by the instructor and that some students were inattentive.

“It was noted that a couple of the detainees were obviously not actively participating, and one had their head on the desk,” stated the officer's Jan. 8 note to a superior.

Barry Calabrese, a supervising probation officer at the East Mesa facility, said the situation has improved since then. Classes are fully staffed and some new counselors have replaced those who presented classes in which students drifted off.

Fare said some of the classes had to be canceled because probation officials had scheduled detainees for recreation time or other activities.

Classes are being modified to better interest the detainees, a group of people who Fare said are difficult to reach because of their backgrounds.

When it comes to working with offenders once they are released on probation, New Alternatives has made little improvement, said Jason Druxman, a supervising probation officer responsible for monitoring teens released from custody.

Although the contract with New Alternatives does not spell out the number of times a counselor is expected to meet with a probationer, Druxman said he expects counselors to meet with them in person at least once a week. Instead, the contacts are made by telephone or when the probationer comes into the office for other matters, he said.

Druxman said meeting with the 10 youths currently on probation in person is vital because it allows counselors to establish a confidence with their clients, help them fill out job applications, accompany them on interviews or help them get back into school.

“I have laid out what I expect,” Druxman said. “They are telling me these things are going to be happening, but I haven't seen it.”

Fare said his counselors do have in-person contact with probationers and have helped find jobs for them, enroll them in community college, and connect them with temporary housing and foster families.